Ubaldo Jimenez pitched six gritty innings to earn his 100th career win and added an RBI single as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Washington Nationals 4-1 Tuesday night in the rain-delayed opener of a series between teams fighting to remain in the playoff race.

The 31-year-old Jimenez (12-9) won his third straight decision for Baltimore, which began the night trailing three teams and six games back for the AL's second wild card.

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The Nationals remained 6 1-2 games back of the Mets, who lost to Atlanta, in the NL East. But New York's magic number to clinch the division dropped to six.

Jimenez walked five, but allowed just an unearned run on three hits while also striking out five.

Monday's opener was postponed by rain. The teams are scheduled to play a makeup game Thursday.